Kae Serinuma
Kae Serinuma (芹沼 花依, Serinuma Kae), later known only in the manga as Kae Mutsumi (六見 花依, Mutsumi Kae), is the main protagonist of the series. She is a 2nd-year student who is a full-fledged otaku and fujoshi. Appearance Kae was first shown to have small eyes that were covered by her over-sized, circular glasses and dark hair that ended just a few inches below her shoulders which she often put into low pigtails. Her most noticeable feature at that time was her overweight body. Unlike other girls and her best friend, Kae had a rather rounded figure, which was said to be like a 'cushion' by Nozomu Nanashima and a similarly shaped face. However, after the death of her favorite anime character, Kae shut herself in her room for days and refused to come out, not even to eat. Because of this, she lost a lot of weight as Kae gains an eye-catching figure and notably large breasts, which seemed to have come from when she was chubbier. She starts wearing her hair down and her blue-green eyes are revealed when she stops wearing her glasses. This results in her becoming an extremely beautiful girl. Surprisingly, Kae seems to have a good fashion sense, often wearing cute and fashionable clothes whenever she is out, although the clothes could have come from Amane Nakano (Kae's best friend). Personality Kae is a very carefree girl who prefers to go with the flow of things where she doesn't mind the small details and, as stated by herself, she is quite easy to figure out. As stated before, Kae is a fairly "easy" person. She doesn't seem to worry about the little things or tiny details and prefers to go with the flow. Whenever this part of Kae emerges, flowers tend to accompany her speech bubbles as a way to emphasize her being an air-head. The only time where Kae is extremely fired up is when anime/manga or yaoi is involved, such as her obsession over possible romances between her classmates, Nozomu Nanashima and Yūsuke Igarashi. In those moments, Kae takes on many of her pre-weight loss traits, such as small eyes, heavy sweating, and the occasional sly smile. Depending on her dedication and the situation relative to her "otaku-level", Kae can accomplish several extraordinary feats, such as helping the girls' soccer team win despite never having played soccer, and completing three cosplay ensembles from scratch for a school festival. Her other most notable feature is her kindness. Even after her week of starving, Asuma Mutsumi can still recognize her because she is still very kind and caring, helping to take care of his wounds after trying to capture a cat despite having visited the infirmary to treat her own injuries. And any task that she's undertaken, no matter how difficult, she tries to accomplish without complaining. Due to her Fujoshi-personality and previously unattractive status, Kae is also very oblivious and awkward when it comes to romance. When all four of the boys approach her in the first chapter, Kae begins to sweat and is unable to deal with the situation effectively. In the end, instead of choosing one, she indecisively accepts a date with all four boys. As the story progresses, Kae becomes more accustomed to being around all of her possible love interests and stops seeing them as, well, love interests, and more as friends. She is deeply in love with Shion her favorite anime characters. According to her, she tells Amane Nakano (Kae's best friend) that she likes to watch romance between a man and she doesn't know about feelings or love and that she wants it to stay that way. At the end of Anime, she doesn't choose rejects them not to hurt anyone's feelings and tells them that she isn't interested in love and tells them that she loves only anime love between a man and runs away from them leaving them all speechless. Kae's sexuality isn't entirely discussed, but when she finds out that the five suitors like her, she takes them all seriously and shows interest in all of them. This is including Shima Nishina, who is not only a girl but was her first kiss. Relationships Yūsuke Igarashi Kae's classmate from 2-A and a suitor. He makes his intentions clearer than any of the others. During the School Festival arc, he declares that he doesn't want to be "friendly" with the other boys anymore, and grabs her hand while they watch Hayato Shinomiya's play. He may also be the only one that has begun to love Serinuma the most deeply, as he was able to look past her regression into her larger physique during the Valentine's Day arc. Almost everyone else wanted to change her but he realized he loved her for who she is not what she looks like. Which is like true love right there. He is the only one who asked for her consent before (almost) kissing her. She kissed him when saving him from the pond on the Birthday arc. Nozomu Nanashima Kae's classmate from 2-A, and a suitor. The most aggressive out of the four, he's the one that tends to woo her the hardest by playing the bad boy. He's weak against her crying, though, and tends to pale in comparison to the others who have skillful archetypes (Igarashi - hardcore athlete, Shinomiya - class president, Mutsumi - history buff and genius). However, what he lacks in skill, he makes up for in fiery determination, which usually results in him being the loudest of the suitors. He also has some difficulty getting past her inclination to see him as "Shion". Later he begins to have true feelings for Kae and says to himself that she is someone he needs and doesn't wants to give up on her. He also protects Kae from anyone tries to harm her. Hayato Shinomiya Kae's kouhai, and a suitor. The one with the biggest crush on Kae, he often tries to prove himself as manly in front of her but usually fails, as shown in Episode 3. Kae thinks of him as a younger brother - she says that 'you can't really leave him alone'. Later he begins to develops true feelings for Kae and protects her whoever tries to harm her. Asuma Mutsumi President of the history club, which Kae is also part of, and a suitor. Initially, he only thought of her as a close friend but came to realize he was in love with her even before her transformation after being asked by the other boys. He is usually very laid back but becomes protective of Kae when he feels others are mistreating her. He's the only suitor who was friends with Kae before her transformation and recognized her right away after the drastic weight loss. His interest in her never wavered even when she regained her excess weight. During the ending of chapter 45 (Only Manga), Kae realizes that she returns Mutsumi's feelings. After Kae's realization, she confesses her feelings for Mutsumi, to which he re-establish his feelings by confessing again; following this the two start to date. Although their relationship begins to strain due to the appearance of a rival, prompting the two to re-analyze their feelings for each other, both are able to overcome the hurdle and reaffirm their love for each other. Seven years after Mutsumi graduates, the two get married where they also announce that she was “eating for two” and they have a son together. Amane Nakano Nakano, or commonly called by Kae as A-chan, is Kae's best friend. Like Kae, she is a fujoshi and fellow otaku. She goes to great lengths to hide her otaku lifestyle, even hiding it from her boyfriend. Despite this, she cares for Kae a lot as shown when Kae was absent for a week in respond to Shion's death. A-chan was worried as Kae didn't answer any of her messages on Twitter. A-chan is a bit more mature than Kae when it comes to romance and boyfriends. She occasionally gives Kae advice in difficult situations involving romance. Shima Nishina Kae met Shima during a Comiket festival. She mistook Nishina for a boy due to her masculine appearance and was surprised to find out that Nishina was actually a girl. Kae is amazed at all Shina's talents, especially the doujinshi manga Nishina has written. Kae is deeply moved by Nishina's manga stories as the stories themselves deeply touched and moved Kae's heart. Nishina is one of the four people aside from A-chan, Yuusuke, and Asuma to accept Kae's larger physique. This was shown during the Valentine's Day arc and Weight Loss arc when she didn't care about the fact that Kae returned to her original appearance. Due to Nishina being an otaku and fujoshi, she shared Kae's love for anime/manga, especially for BL. Nishina was also Kae's first kiss, much to the other suitors' despair and confusion. Shion Shion is the name of a character in one of Kae's favorite anime shows. He was one of the main stars in the fictional anime series that aired in this manga called Mirage Saga. She was a huge fan of Shion and her classmate Nanashima bear a striking resemblance to the character. Shion is also the reason why Kae lost so much weight as she was shocked by his death during one of the episodes in the first chapter. Due to her BL mind, she sees Nozomu as Shion himself, much to Nozomu's dismay. However, Kae is no longer obsessed with him. Quotes * "A prince beside a prince, that's how it should be. That's how it should be!" * "A prince by the side of a prince, unbeknownst to them, sneaking a peak, that is my happiness. That is my position." * "Not everyone is as narrow-minded as you!"'' ''-'' (to Takurō Serinuma) Trivia * The name '''Kae' means "flower" (花) (ka) and "rely on" (依) (e'). * Kae's surname '''Serinuma '''means "celery" (芹) ('seri) and "swamp" (沼) (numa). * Kae is an otaku and fujoshi. * Kae can cook and loves sweets. * Kae's Twitter account name is 'Ekka'. * Kae had her first kiss stolen by Shima Nishina while showing the boys a demonstration for Nishina's manga much to her suitors' dismay. ** Kae is kissed the second time by Nozomu Nanashima when he had a fever. * Kae is shown to be fast in speed but lacked the stamina for physical exercises shown when she tries to do push-ups, sit-ups, and squats. This is due to her status as an otaku since she mostly watched anime or read manga at home most of the time. * Kae's body is very unusual. She lost a lot of weight for a week in response to her sadness of Shion's death. Another example is when Kae ate all of the leftover chocolates for a contest during the weekend, which caused her to immediately gained her original appearance. * Kae isn't interested in love or feelings, but she likes to watch it. * Kae has an obsession with an otome character. * At the beginning of the episode, everyone was surprised that Kae had lost so much weight that her classmates did not recognize her. * Kae sees one of her friends as a brother type and she is not romantic involved with him. Yet, she can't leave him alone. * In the series, Kae does not give anyone a clear answer with whom she would like to date. But it is not known who it is in the anime and she only shows that she is in love with an otome character. * Only in the manga, Kae shows that she has romantic feelings for Asuma Mutsumi. ** In the end, she and Mutsumi have gotten married (which now makes her''' Kae Mutsumi''') and she gives birth to a boy named Shion Mutsumi. Category:Main Character Category:Female Category:Characters